


Soul Flowers

by Arwen88



Category: Generation Kill
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Flowers, Fluff, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24097123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arwen88/pseuds/Arwen88
Summary: They would call them "soul flowers" because they wouldn't usually blossom on a person's skin until one was to meet their soulmate: it was quite understandable since it was rare that one would think highly of someone they had yet to meet.People were usually extremely proud of the flowers pictured on their skin, the very proof that someone in the world thought positive things of them. There were many conversations about the possible meaning behind where on the body the flowers were to appear, or what the flowers on one's skin could tell of one’s soul.
Relationships: Brad Colbert/Ray Person
Comments: 11
Kudos: 71
Collections: Loose Lips Sink Ships Prompt Meme





	Soul Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to ThyDonut for the conversations about flowers and her beautiful art for making me think about more reasons to associate flowers and the boys <3  
> Thanks to momecat for betareading this!

They would call them "soul flowers" because they wouldn't usually blossom on a person's skin until one was to meet their soulmate: it was quite understandable since it was rare that one would think highly of someone they had yet to meet.

People were usually extremely proud of the flowers pictured on their skin, the very proof that someone in the world thought positive things of them. There were many conversations about the possible meaning behind where on the body the flowers were to appear, or what the flowers on one's skin could tell of one’s soul.

Ray had spent many years wondering what kind of flower he might be, if he ever was to meet his soulmate and see it blossoming.

There was a certain mystery surrounding the blossoming of the first flower on his skin: he had enlisted in the marines a couple years earlier, started his training as reckon marine, only to wake up one morning with one beautiful daisy on his shoulder.

Ray almost dropped his toothbrush at seeing it in the reflection of the mirror over the sink in the communal bathrooms.

Ray stopped breathing for a moment, his brain frozen as he stared at the flower through the mirror, almost afraid that if he were to wrench his gaze away it would disappear. But it was still there when he finally looked at his left shoulder. A beautiful daisy a little bigger than a wild daisy would be.

He didn't even notice the smile tugging at his lips as he slowly brushed his thumb over the sign that his soulmate had been thinking of him, that his soulmate had been mentally praising him.

Of course there was no way to know if his soulmate had somehow met him or if they were simply thinking that he must be a cute guy or something. But it didn't matter too much, not in that moment, not at finally having proof that his soulmate existed and at finally knowing what flower his soul would show to the world.

"I got a daisy!" he announced to the guy bent over the sink next to him, and got a little huffed smile when he also noticed the flower.

"Cool, man."

When, during the following weeks, the flowers started to grow in number on his skin, Ray had to start considering the chance that he had not only actually met his soulmate, but that said person actually liked him.

But, surrounded as he was by marines, Ray could understand why anyone that was actually interested in him would think twice before saying something aloud. And yet, it was unmistakable that someone was mentally praising him, and Ray couldn't help a proud grin every time his gaze fell over the daisies slowly blooming across his chest and shoulders.

He just had to find out who his soulmate was.

Personally, Ray had his hopes up for a certain Sergeant that didn’t look as brainwashed as the rest of the bunch.

***

They were two weeks into their deployment in Afghanistan, and Ray was a couple of minutes into a long list of radio frequencies that he was trying to memorize, since it would be useful to know off the top of his head once they were seeing action, when he noticed the smile on Brad's lips grow to a face splitting grin.

Ray faltered for the briefest moment, the hand he was gesticulating with stopping mid-air, as he lifted his eyes from Brad's grin to his eyes. He felt his stomach do a strange flip at the pride he saw there. Before he could find his momentum again and go back to listing radio frequencies, his eyes dropped to his wrist where a huge daisy was quickly blossoming right in front of him.

Right in front of them.

The world seemed to go on just fine around them, everybody talking, training in hand-to-hand combat, cleaning their weapons and what not. Even if he and Brad simply stood there in silence, both of them staring at the new daisy that now adorned Ray's inner forearm.

Ray snapped his eyes up to Brad's face, almost breathless as he watched the man stare in bewilderment at the flower.

"Do that again."

His whisper seemed to startle Brad, who looked up at him in surprise before shaking his head.

"I didn't do-"

"Brad, do it again," he whispered with a touch more heat, leaning closer to his team leader.

He could feel his heart almost beat out of his chest all of a sudden, but Brad shook his head, throwing a glance around to make sure nobody was actually paying attention to them.

When he saw that nobody was paying attention, instead of even saying a word he turned around and calmly left the tent.

Nobody would have thought much of him taking a stroll, and a little part of Ray knew they couldn't just have that conversation in front of everybody. But that didn't stop him from following Brad outside.

"Do it again. Whatever you did before?" He addressed Brad's back mostly, trying to cover the distance the man had put between them and reach him in the corridor left between tents.

It was dark outside, most of the men inside tents already, but Brad threw a glance around anyway before turning to face Ray.

Before he could say a word though, Ray grabbed his shirt and pulled it up without a warning, yanking it out of Brad's pants with every intention of exposing his chest to check it for flowers.

"What-" 

"Oh wow," Ray murmured, barely hearing Brad's protest as he was suddenly able to openly stare at the man's chiseled torso.

He swallowed, suddenly the reality of him running behind his superior officer to half strip him catching up with him just as he noticed he was openly gawking. But before he could say anything, or wrench his gaze away from the beautiful body of the man in front of him, he saw a jasmine flower blossom right above Brad's pectorals.

Ray gasped, beaming at the flower before he raised his eyes to Brad's face, too excited to bother with the aggravation in his eyes.

"That was me! I did that!" He pointed at the flower. "Thought you were- well, hot." He grinned even as Brad rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, of course that was you."

But Ray had been close enough to the man to know how to read him, and after all Brad was making no effort to hide the little smile tugging at his lips despite how he tried to act annoyed with him.

"Quick, think something nice of me!" Ray asked in a hurried whisper, his chuckle bubbling up with happiness when Brad brought one hand up to cup one of his cheeks.

"I think you're a dumbass," Brad whispered, already leaning in to brush a kiss to his lips, and Ray couldn't hold back a smile.

It was just as good, he thought, finally kissing his soulmate.

***

Brad lay on his belly, his face squashed against the pillow he was hugging in his sleep.

A week into their leave, Ray still couldn't help but keep studying the pattern of jasmine flowers over Brad's broad shoulders. It made him feel good to know that it was thanks to him the man had so many flowers, that it had been him that gave his soulmate proof that he was appreciated.

His own daisies had slowly started to appear on many spots over his torso, and still Ray couldn't help but smile at his reflection when he was able to take his time in front of a mirror.

Brad mumbled in his sleep just as Ray had started to consider whether it was safe to touch his flowers, and he barely cracked an eye open to look up at him sitting against the headboard.

"Come to sleep."

It was too groggy and relaxed to be an order, but Ray followed it anyway, smiling smugly as Brad wrapped an arm around his waist and pretty much pulled him down, bringing Ray to curl up with him. Ray's back to his chest, Brad fell asleep right away, and soon Ray followed suit.

***

There was a spot in their official military personnel files that was meant for a marine to write in the name of either a spouse or their soulmate. They had to hold the briefest discussion before agreeing on not updating that information, only adding each other in the list of people to alert in case of emergency. Both were quite aware that to reveal that they were each other's soulmate would have been a quick way out of the marines or a sure way to be separated.

Ray was the best RTO in the company, or so Brad kept saying, and meaning - if the new daisies on Ray's skin were any indication - and luckily that accounted for something when Brad requested to have him in his humvee at the point of the invasion in Iraq.

"Woah, man, your soulmate really thinks highly of you!"

Ray couldn't help but openly grin at the impressed tone with which Espera commented the state of his body not two seconds after he had taken off his shirt. He put his hands on his hips, wiggling his eyebrows at the men that had stopped to check out the number of daisies covering his skin.

A few of them whistled, commenting on how that was an impressive number of flowers for someone so young, and one of them mumbled that he wished his wife at home would think a little more often about him.

There was the telltale click of a camera and Ray threw a glance at Reporter standing there with both eyebrows raised.

"My soulmate loves me." Ray gloated, practically flaunting his soul flowers for the man to take another picture.

Not like any of them could deny the very proof of him being loved by someone.

"Pray for their soul," Brad commented flatly, unrolling the camo net on the side of the humvee.

There were a few chuckles at that, but Ray barely rolled his eyes with a shake of his head, showing everybody that he was far above certain comments about his soulmate. Not that he could say anything about Brad playing the hypocrite there.

Reporter seemed too interested in the subject of soulmates of military personnel to let it go however, and he latched onto Brad's words, turning to him for questions.

"Have you met your soulmate already?" he asked Brad, vaguely pointing at a jasmine flower that peeked above the tshirt neckline.

"Yeah." Brad looked more preoccupied with the camo net than with his questions, but Reporter didn't let it go.

"Are you afraid of what they would think of you if word of what's actually going on here was to get out?"

Brad pulled a face, but then he lifted his eyes on the reporter, crouched where he was trying to hammer a picket in the ground.

He kept quiet for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts about the matter before slowly answering.

"No. I think it goes beyond what is happening around me here. We made mistakes," he conceded. "But their respect doesn’t come from how many enemies I kill. I think it's a matter of knowing that my mate trusts me to make the best decision that could be made in a given situation."

Ray listened in silence, nodding with a little tilt of his head at Brad's words. The reporter probably took it as a sign of him agreeing, but Ray knew Brad could tell it was his way of letting the man know he still respected him. Brad didn't say a word, but there was no mistaking the way the line of his shoulders relaxed at that little nod.

At least Ray knew it wasn't Brad's fault if command had decided to fuck them over, if there was no sense in whatever they were doing, or if Trombley had followed the orders a little too much to the letter. Everybody was quick to forget the shit that had put Brad under inquiry had come after command changed the rules of engagement, but Ray knew, and not for the first time he considered himself lucky for being there together with Brad, able to witness exactly what the fuck was going on.

Maybe they couldn't decide what they were going to do next, but he could still say he trusted his soulmate one hundred per cent.

He could also say he found Brad's competency quite hot, if the man was to ask. Not that he did, even if sometimes Ray caught him studying a new flower on his skin with a little private smile on his lips.

But Brad was doing his best, was keeping them operating and able to do their job.

As the time rolled on, Brad was one of the few things Ray could still count on; everything else reaching new levels of stupidity with every passing day.

By the time they reached Baghdad, Ray knew that was not the life he wanted to have.

He wasn't really sure how Brad could still want to have that career in front of him, or how others could, but the more they went on, the more the idea that he wasn't in the right place started chipping away at him.

He was constantly on the verge of some ugly feeling. It was like his body was too tight, or too full, sometimes at the same time, as if he was stretched too thin around everything he carried inside.

He was angry and tired, barely catching any sleep, and he was starting to feel an ugly turn towards a deep sadness approaching him too quickly. He just wanted a damn break.

That was the moment he knew he wasn't going to re-up when his time was done.

After all they had gone through, for the first time in a long time Ray felt worry for something other than staying alive. But truth was that looking at Brad sitting beside him, Ray wasn't really sure how his soulmate would take knowing he was going to quit the marines, if he was going to understand him or not.

***

They were billeted in a cigarette factory in Baghdad when Ray decided to seize the opportunity to talk to Brad in private. That night when Brad got up Ray followed him through the path left free by sleeping soldiers, ducking inside of dark rooms.

He could have been more silent in his steps, but he wanted Brad to know he was there. The man threw a glance at him over his shoulder. He stopped briefly, apparently changing direction to another corner of the factory.

But once he was facing Brad, Ray didn’t exactly know what to say.

Detoxing from sleepless nights, from the spikes of adrenaline, and from the Ripped Fuel, left him feeling almost empty. Or at least empty compared to the crazy he had been running on over the previous weeks.

And yet Brad stood there, waiting him out, at least until he moved only to step closer to Ray, ducking his head with a little frown pulling at his brows.

“What’s the matter, Ray?” he asked softly, not wanting for their voices to bounce off the walls and echo through the empty halls.

Ray took a deep breath, sustaining his gaze. “I’m not re-upping.”

He was mostly proud of himself for how his voice didn’t even waver despite the dread of Brad getting disappointed at him gnawing at his stomach.

But Brad merely gave a slight nod before pulling Ray closer and wrapping his arms around him, engulfing him in an embrace that had Ray heaving a deep sigh and returning the hug right away.

He pressed his face against Brad’s chest, his eyes closed, and he tried to memorize the exact weight of Brad’s arms around him, the sound of his heart against his forehead, still not sure if he was to lose the man or not.

“I get it, Ray,” Brad reassured him in a whisper, reaching up with one hand to cup the back of his head with one of his massive hands, his fingers pushing through the short hair in what felt like a caress, the most tender touch they had manage to exchange in a long while. “Still, I’m glad you were here with me. Never gonna find a better RTO than you,” he added, a little smile in his voice.

Ray fisted the fabric of Brad’s shirt in his hands, hanging on to it and squeezing the man in his arms a little more tightly.

“You still want me, right? Even if I’m quitting?”

“What are you talking about?” Brad leaned back to look him in the face, his brows pulled down in a deep frown. “You’re not quitting. You’ve done your job. You’ve done so much more than many others.” Even while keeping his voice low, mindful of their surroundings, Brad had in his voice some of the strength he used when he was making sure Ray would stop blathering and would listen to him. “There’s nothing to reproach, Ray. Why the fuck should I not want you anymore?”

Ray shrugged: Brad’s words hit him in a good way that he hadn’t expected when going there for the talk. But when Brad scoffed, scowling fiercely at him, Ray couldn’t help huffing, a smile playing on his lips.

He suddenly noticed he couldn’t even remember the last time he had been happy about something, but he put the thought aside as Brad pulled him close once more, making Ray lean his head on his shoulder.

“You’re a dumbass,” Brad whispered, slowly rubbing his thumb back and forth under Ray’s ear. “But you’re my dumbass.”


End file.
